Game Call Questions - Hey Frank Fusco!

Vaughn McMillan

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How does a person use a predator call like this? What end goes in your mouth? Which way does the air go?

PKGCALL1.jpg

I've got some of these kits from PSI (planning to give them as Christmas gifts), and playing with the reed assembly, it appears you have to suck on the wooden end to get tone from the reed. Is that correct? (Or do you put the whole reed assembly in your mouth and blow?) Any tips on making these calls?
 
Vaughn, blow from the wooden end. I don't have the ear for "tuning" the calls so have a couple of students that use tapes to call in coyotes and are experienced duck/geese hunters so they "tune" the calls by trimming the reed or sliding it in or out. So the tuning part I have little help for you.
 
I'm not familiar with that call. :huh:
The reeds usually are pointing towards the open end for blowing. Only exception I know of is a crow call that has two reeds pointing out but they are captured inside a housing. Those you blow on. They are often called 'tongue biters'.
OK, before finishing this response, I went to my PSI catalog and found your picture is straight from there. I have never seen this set-up. Just try it by blowing on the open end. Don't put in mouth, just purse lips to the opening.
I had half a dozen call suppy sources before I had to format my computer. If I can ever recover them, I'll post a list. Check the HUT catalog, they have a lot of supplies also.
BTW, tone is everything. Soft woods don't make it for predators at all.
 
Vaughn, blow from the wooden end. I don't have the ear for "tuning" the calls so have a couple of students that use tapes to call in coyotes and are experienced duck/geese hunters so they "tune" the calls by trimming the reed or sliding it in or out. So the tuning part I have little help for you.
Jonathan, if you blow on the wooden end, the reed doesn't vibrate. I messed around with the reed assembly a bit more this morning, and as best I can tell, the black part is a mouthpiece, and you blow through that. You can change the pitch (a lot) by biting down on the reed all along its length.

Thanks for the suggestions, both of you. I'll dig around the HUT site a bit more.
 
I've made quite a few duck and goose calls and even a couple of HUT supplies predator calls. But I've never seen a predator call like that one. The HUt predator calls squeal like a rabbit in distress but they do it the same as a duck call, just a smaller, higher pitched reed http://hutproducts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=3027. I almost wonder if that pic is somehow messed up or just to show how the reed would look if it weren't in the stopper part of the call, sort of a cut away view.
 
Curt, I think Frank nailed it with the link to the "open reed" calls. As I've played with the assembly more, I've found that I can get everything from real high pitched mouse squeaks to dying jackrabbit screams, depending on where I'm biting down on the reed and how hard I blow.

My sister's gonna hate me on Christmas morning when my three nephews open their presents this year. Three screaming jackrabbits in the living room. :rolleyes:
 
You got it Vaughn, blow thru the open reeds. The variety of sounds make these type my favorite. Also, the open reeds are easier to thaw/de-ice if you are out in real cold weather!
 
Vaughn, thanks for this tip! I have a couple of these calls on order and students wanting them over Christmas break to call in coyotes. They probably knew which end to blow through! The more I learn about the product, the better the product should be.
 
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